{Liver shark} (Zo["o]l.), a very large shark ({Cetorhinus
maximus}), inhabiting the northern coasts both of Europe
and North America. It sometimes becomes forty feet in
length, being one of the largest sharks known; but it has
small simple teeth, and is not dangerous. It is captured
for the sake of its liver, which often yields several
barrels of oil. It has gill rakers, resemblingwhalebone,
by means of which it separates small animals from the sea
water. Called also {basking shark}, {bone shark},
{hoemother}, {homer}, and {sailfish}; it is sometimesreferred to as {whale shark}, but that name is more
commonly used for the {Rhincodon typus}, which grows even
larger.